


I Found You

by twdsunshine



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 05:22:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14888420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twdsunshine/pseuds/twdsunshine
Summary: Negan thought his family died back when the dead started walking, but when a routine supply run takes a turn for the crazy, he realises he has more to lose than he thought.





	I Found You

**Author's Note:**

> This was an anonymous request sent in on Tumblr far too long ago now (sorry!). Just a cute little fluff piece. Hope you like!
> 
> ‘„Daddy?“ Negans and Readers little daughter (3 yrs) shrieks in excitement as Negan bursting the door open and his little girl runs towards him. Reader isn’t able to move as her eyes widen and fill with tears over the man she had thought that he died months back shortly after the apocalypse started. And she finds shelter in the Sanctuary. Negan’s just speechless and really happy that he finally see’s his family again.’

‘Daddy!’

The baseball bat held aloft in Negan’s hand swung to his side before hitting the floor with a solid thunk as it slipped from his fingers.  He was breathing hard, his vision blurring as his eyes filled with tears, his long body crumpling as he dropped to his knees.  

_How?  It’s not fucking possible.  This can’t be real._

The little girl was in his arms now, the frothy tops of her pigtails tickling his nose as he held her close, rocking her gently as she babbled in his ear, completely at a loss of what to say, how to deal with this.  

_His baby.  His girl. No, she was dead.  He’d thought she was dead._

This was supposed to be a routine run.  He’d gotten word of a small group living in some abandoned apartments not far from his old neighbourhood.  He’d sent some of his men out the day before to scout about, and they’d reported back that they’d sighted a few people coming and going from the building, so he’d driven out here to take a look himself, with back-up of course.  You never knew what you were walking in to these days.

He hadn’t been intending to try to take over the community.  It didn’t sound like there were enough of them to provide what he needed.  The intention had just been to make their presence known and gather up any supplies they had that might be of use.  It was supposed to be a considered approach, going in slowly, all smiles and charm, but with enough muscle to show they were a threat.

And then the walkers had showed up, a formidable herd of them, and they’d been forced to abandon their vehicles, racing for the buildings and barricading themselves inside. With nowhere else to go, he’d barged in to one of the occupied apartments, his weapon raised, ready to put the fear of God into anyone he found inside, establish his position as the boss from the get-go and guarantee their safety from the surrounding corpses, but instead… this… her…

‘Maddie!’  A familiar voice called from the next room, a voice full of fear and panic, and when Negan’s eyes drifted up from the top of his daughter’s head, he couldn’t stop the tears from spilling over.

‘Negan?’

‘My God…’

‘Negan!’

His wife was just as beautiful as she had been the last time he’d seen her, a little slimmer perhaps, her skin free from make-up, and her hair wild and untamed without the luxuries of blowdryers and straighteners, but damn, she was his Y/N still, and he felt something stir deep within him.  

Shifting Maddie onto his right hip, he stood, holding his other arm out so Y/N could step into his embrace, melting into him as he cradled his family against his chest.  

_They were dead.  He was so sure of it.  He’d searched the house, the pre-school, Y/N’s work, the hospital…  He’d looked everywhere…  And then the undead had become too much and he’d had to run.  Had he left them?  Had he abandoned them, alone, to fend for themselves in the chaos?_

‘Negan, you’re alive.’ Y/N was murmuring quietly, his jacket clenched in her fist as though she were afraid that he might disappear at any moment.  ‘You’re alive, thank God, you’re alive.’

‘Y/N?  How…’  He tailed off, unable to find the words, not wanting anything more in that moment than to enjoy the warmth of her pressed flush against his body, the weight of his little girl in his arms.  ‘I love you. I love you both so much.  I’m so sorry.’

‘Love you too, Daddy,’ Maddie cooed, and he broke down.

 

* * *

 

The sound of the door slamming back against the wall had made you jump, sloshing water from the laundry you’d been doing over yourself and the kitchen floor.  It had taken hours to fetch the small supply you had from a stream a little over three miles away, and you cursed your carelessness, before your survival instincts took over and you raced into the living room, looking wildly round for your daughter.  ‘Maddie!’

You didn’t recognise him at first.  All you could see was the top of his head as he knelt on the floor with your little girl huddled firmly against his chest.  But then he looked up, and his warm hazel eyes met yours and the rest of the world fell away.  

‘Negan?’

‘My God…’  

He’d changed.  His face was more lined, his beard more salt than pepper now, and you could see the weariness behind his eyes but, when he broke into a smile, the dimples were still evident beneath his stubble, the dimples that you’d fallen in love with so many years ago.

‘Negan!’

He unfolded himself, as long and lean as he’d always been, though his muscles looked a little more defined under the tight fabric of his white t-shirt.  He shifted your daughter onto his hip, reaching for you, and you went into his arms instinctively, finding your space in the crook of his neck and inhaling deeply as he held you to him.  He smelled like peppermint and something woody that you didn’t recognise, but somewhere beneath that was the same old familiar musk.  

‘Negan, you’re alive.’ You had to keep saying it, had to keep a tight grip of him, just to make sure it was real, that he was actually standing there in front of you.  You’d dreamt of this so many times, but you’d been so sure that he was dead.  He’d disappeared not long after the world ended, and, though you’d waited as long as you could for him to come back to you, the whole neighbourhood was overrun with corpses and you’d had to flee for your lives. ‘You’re alive, thank God, you’re alive.’

‘Y/N?’  He finally spoke your name, and you felt your heart racing.  You’d never thought you’d hear that sound again.  ‘How…’  

He tailed off, and you were glad.  You had so much to talk about, so many things to say to each other, but it wasn’t the time. For now, you just needed to hold each other for a little while longer.

‘I love you,’ he was mumbling, his voice muffled as he buried his face in your hair.  ‘I love you both.  I’m so sorry.’

 

* * *

 

Negan didn’t remember making it back to the trucks.  He didn’t remember the drive back to the Sanctuary.  He knew he’d had Maddie on his knee the entire time, singing incoherently and fiddling with the red scarf that he wore round his neck, and he knew his wife’s hand had been clutched in his.  He owed a lot to his Lieutenants for coordinating the escape and evacuating the apartments, getting everybody back here safely.  He’d ensure they were compensated, he thought, when he could get his head around this new turn of events.

By the time his body had caught up with his mind, he was sitting on the edge of his bed, watching as his little girl slept, exhausted by the long, emotional day.  He wondered how much of it she was really aware of.  She was still so little, despite how much she’d grown in the time since he’d last seen her.

‘You back with us?’ Y/N was watching him from her chair by the window, looking surprisingly relaxed and at peace.  She gave him a gentle smile as she slipped from the seat and made her way over, perching on his knee, her arms wrapping around his neck as she gazed at him.  ‘Thought we’d lost you for a while there.’

‘I’m sorry, princess,’ he managed to choke out.  ‘I’m just…’

‘A little shocked?  I know.’   She smoothed his hair back, her touch hypnotic, and he closed his eyes, relishing in the feeling of closeness.  ‘God, Negan, all this time I thought you were dead.  I didn’t even imagine…’  

‘I looked for you, doll.  Shit, I looked everywhere and I thought… I thought you were gone, you and Maddie.  I thought I’d lost you.  How in the hell are you alive?’

‘We found people, good people that took us in.  We kept moving until we found the apartments and then we hunkered down and made a home.  It wasn’t much but it worked.’

‘They came back with us?’

‘Yeah,’ she nodded.  ‘I couldn’t leave them.’

He understood that.  The apocalypse had turned decent, honest people into assholes, so if you found anyone you could trust, you had to keep them close.  ‘We’ll find a place for them.’

‘Well, it certainly looks like you’ve got room.’  She stood again and made her way back to the window, where she surveyed the complex in the gathering gloom of dusk.  ‘What is this place, Negan?  You built this?’

He eased himself upright, going to her and wrapping his arms around her from behind, feeling her lean back into him, her scent engulfing him and taking him back to a better time.  He knew he’d need to tell her everything, what the Sanctuary was, how it functioned, the things he had to do to keep himself and his people alive, but he wasn’t ready to ruin the reunion just yet.  She wouldn’t like much of it, he knew that already, and shit, when he had to address the issue of his other wives…

He shuddered.   _Not today._

‘God, I love you, princess, y’know that?  You and Maddie, I love the both of you to death.’

She reached up a hand to cup his cheek, tilting her head to the side so he could nuzzle into her neck. ‘I love you, Negan.  Your daughter, she’s missed you for a long, long time.  Everything gets better now, doesn’t it?  We can be a family again, like before.’

 _Yes, like before_.  Negan made an internal promise to himself that no matter what it took, he would protect his girls to his last breath.  ‘I’m so happy I found you.’


End file.
